Anewrevolutionary Infrared Life Detection Systemusing Atmega168

A new sensitive infrared life-detection system which can be used to locate and obtain valuable information regarding human subjects which are buried under earthquake rubble has been developed. This system can detect the distance at which the human subject is detected and the heartbeat signals of the person under the earthquake rubble can be measured. In this system, an infrared sensor comprising of a light emitting diode, adjacent to a phototransistor is being used. When an infrared beam is aimed at a portion of earthquake rubble covering a human being, the beam can penetrate the rubble to reach the human subject. Distance measurement is carried out using an infrared sensor, consisting of one infrared LED and a pair of silicon phototransistors. By using high intensity, long range infrared distance sensors, the distance from a human subject can be precisely and reliably measured and it can be indicated to the rescue operators. Infrared light is absorbed well in blood and weakly absorbed in tissue. The IR light reflected back from the skin of a human subject on account of blood passage is captured by the detector. This reflected light has intensity variations which occur as the blood volume changes in the tissue and it results in voltage variations. This voltage variation determines the heart rate. After measuring the heart rate, it can be indicated on the monitor and immediate action can be taken for rescuing the person. It has been medically proved that a person can be rejenuvated back to life if the heart rate is above 60 bpm. A hardware prototype of the life detection system has been developed and experimental results show that the proposed method is cost effective and efficient method which not only detects life signals but also the identification of people in a given area, to facilitate rescue team operations in case of emergencies. By the advent of this system, the world death rate as a cause of natural disasters like earthquake may decrease to greater extent.